Bring Heaven to Earth? Sonship and Manifested Sons of God

One of the foundational teachings of the Manifested Sons of God and Sonship Movement is this idea that we as believers are charged with bringing heaven to earth. This is taken from a misunderstanding of the Lord's prayer, which was meant to be a prayer of surrender to the Lord's will.

This idea of taking charge sounds appealing to our flesh. It sounds appealing to those who are in generally good times. It is also quite appealing to those who are looking for a way to obtain power and purpose in life. Yet it causes believers to chase after men (either for prayer or for their teachings) instead of looking to and trusting in God Himself. The thought that a believer is in charge of making God's will come to pass is unsettling when you are the one sick, out of work, having marital problems, facing an abusive situation or simply got into a car accident. It is in those difficult times where we realize that we don't want to be the ones in charge of making things better. We learn we really want God to be working all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that He also works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). 

I don't believe that every single thing that happens to us was God's doing, but I do recognize that in life things don't always turn out the way we wanted, had hoped, had prayed and had asked of God. We must trust Him regardless of what is going on at the current time. In the Sonship Movement I do not see this submitting and instead see a lot of finger pointing going around to those hurting or I see a lot of excuses from their leaders like "we are growing in this". 

The Manifested Sons of God and Sonship Movement insist what they believe is the truth. However their beliefs wrongly put our will, our desires and our limited view and understandings of things as the main focus instead of submitting and surrendering those very things to the Lord. When you surrender to the Lord, you are telling Him you no longer want to be the one who always has the answer. You are telling him that you trust Him no matter where life takes you. Sometimes life may take you to places you don't like. 

Maturity in Christ isn't about having all of the answers or having secret revelations. It is about knowing that Jesus is Lord of all and willingly submitting to that. It's really about learning that you don't have the answers. There is freedom and maturity in letting go.

Rejection Leads to Confidence

God has used rejection from people to build confidence in me that could not have been made any other way. Now I am still trusting that God will bring people into our lives that we will be able to fellowship with on a more consistent basis. However I do believe this time alone was God ordained just as Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul were alone in their wilderness seasons. 

My hope is for people to see that God can and will use everything that happens to us for His good and that includes the rejection we may have experienced in our lives too.

Ultimately God wants us to learn to depend on Him and that usually includes taking us out of our own comfort zones. Each of us have our own comfort zone and God will tailor the challenge specifically for us. 

God wants us to surrender our lives to Him. He wants us to willingly come to the place where His will is more important than ours. He wants us to leave the comfort zones and learn to trust Him into the calls He has placed on our lives. 

The Devil Wanted Me Dead

Looking back now, I realize the devil was out to get me in my junior year of high school. At 16 years of age, the devil wanted me broken and dead. 

During marching band camp, I started to have symptoms (fainting, lightheadedness and heat intolerance) that would eventually be diagnosed as Postural tachycardia syndrome.  No one (not even doctors) listened to me back then and I suffered undiagnosed with this condition for 8 years. I still suffer with this illness today.

I also found myself in a very controlling relationship for a few months. When I tried to dump that boyfriend, he threatened to harm me and harm himself. It was also during this time where a family member psychologically abused and raped me. It was a traumatic time for me.

It felt like a horrible nightmare except it wasn't a dream. It was real life. 

As all of this was going on, not a single one of my friends (nor my family) knew anything about it. I suffered in silence in my junior and senior years of high school. People just knew that I became an emotional, broken and messed up person who wanted to die. I couldn't talk to them about the symptoms I was feeling nor could I tell them about the events that took place. Unfortunately those friends stopped talking to me in my senior year and I was alone back then too.

Thankfully when I was born again, God was able to heal me of the trauma from that season. 

After high school, I entered into the work force and was going to college full time. I started to feel increasingly unwell though. I first quit college in the beginning of 2004 and then eventually quit working all together at the end of 2005. At the age of 21, I was already disabled and unable to hold a job or go to school. Looking at my life by worldly standards, I had absolutely nothing going for me. I was a burden and waste of space. 

As I got sicker, I started to look online for support and answers. It was on forums, yahoo groups and websites that I started to make friends with others who had the same story as me. It was great! I was so happy that finally there were people who understood chronic illness and its limitations at a young age. 

For about 3 years I had many wonderful chronically ill friends online. I became a researcher and guinea pig. I subjected myself to treatments in hopes that I could help others. I was part of a community and felt like I belonged. I finally thought that I was making some sort of contribution to the world. Not everyone agreed or liked my style, but I talked to people on a daily basis online and considered many of them great friends. 

In this time frame, my husband also became chronically ill and times got much worse. We entered into a new level of hell.

Things Got Harder After I Was Saved

When I came to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in 2012, God called me out of those chronic illness communities. I had to stop looking at treatment protocols and researching potential cures for chronic illness. That did not go over real well with my chronically ill friends and I walked away from many friendships there. It was hard, but it was part of "taking off the old and putting on the new". God was very clear to my husband and I that we were forbidden to go back to these groups and we were forbidden to even discuss these things with people. I still hold to that today.

I was a new believer in Christ and started to become more active in Christian circles. I figured making friends was going to be much easier. I was wrong. Very quickly I realized that many people want to use you in the Church too. 

They want you to be a testimony for their ministry. 

They want you to join their church. 

They want you to participate in events and ministry. 

With both of us having unpredictable chronic illnesses, we knew it was not going to work well. My husband and I were the odd people out, often times sitting outside during worship because it was too loud. The noise sent my body into sensory overload and it caused horrendous pain in my husband's ears. It was a mess. 

Just a few short months after being saved, I began to write on my blog about things God had shown us. 

This was not a comfortable place for me to be in. I had little to no bible knowledge, little experience as a born again Christian, zero experience in ministry and yet God said to write! I had to extensively research, pray and wait on God to write every post. It is hard writing deep theological posts with migraines and brain fog, but somehow God gave me the strength to it. Although I have many unfinished blog posts that hopefully one day will be published...haha!

In May of 2014, someone locally unfriended me due to one of my blog posts and it caused me to begin questioning everything I thought I heard from God. I was close to shutting down my blog and forgetting about it all. I was in total anguish. 

This brought me to a fork in the road and I had to make a decision. 

Was I going to listen to the people who were upset with me? Was I going to let fear of man take over my heart? Was I going to follow God and continue to speak regardless of it being out of my comfort zone and regardless of the potential fallout? 

I didn't have an answer to those questions at the time. I felt so lost and confused on what was the right thing to do. I didn't want to make people angry, but I also did not want to be silenced either.

What I have learned in this season is:

If we choose to remain silent when God tells us to speak it is disobedience.

If we choose to remain silent for fear of what men will say it is disobedience.

Fear of man may disguise itself as humility, but it is actually false humility! False humility can lead us into a place where we are pleasing people at the cost of obeying God. This is what the devil was after in my life. He wanted me to turn from God and to listen to the other voices around me instead of the only One who matters. 

With my history of losing friends, the devil just kept telling me how much of a bad friend I was to everyone. He kept telling me that I should have kept my mouth shut. He kept saying,  "See what you did!". On the other hand, I knew the things God had shown us were truth and important to talk about.

I was being pulled in all directions and at that point my own heart was betraying itself too.

A Prophetic Word Changed It All

I thank God for a perfectly timed prophetic word in July 2014. If it were not for that word, I truly believe this blog would no longer exist. That single prophetic word changed everything. It gave me the confidence to continue to open my mouth and speak as God was commanding me to do so instead of cowering back. 

God said to me in that word, "When you feel insecure, when you're pushed back on stand in the confidence of the Lord and open your mouth and do the things that he has given you to do."

However when I opened my mouth, I heard from people around me....

...You are just "hurt". 

...You are "critical". 

...You are being "judging".

...Who made you judge?
...You are casting stones!

...Who are you to speak?

Nowadays when these accusations and labels are thrown at me, I know they are originating from the flesh or the devil. I simply continue on speaking what God has called me to do because I know that those people are not hearing from God. 

When I no longer needed validation from men and knew God was with me, it gave me the confidence to speak.  It doesn't make it easy or fun. I still have feelings, emotions and can be hurt by words said to me by friends, family and strangers online, but now I know I'm in God's will. That is the most important thing.

Sometimes I make mistakes and ask forgiveness where necessary, but when I make a mistake it doesn't mean I should stop speaking all together. The enemy wants us to feel insecure, so that we stop speaking.

I truly believe the enemy will speak to us through other Christians to get us to second guess ourselves and to second guess what God has already spoken. He will bring back old labels, old hurts and old wounds that God has already healed. He wants us to begin to believe those lies again about ourselves so we do not continue on in our calling from God. YES the enemy will use a Christian to do it too. I've seen it time and time again with the emails I've received from strangers via this blog. 

Some of the most demonic, twisted words have come out of the mouths of Christians and Christian ministers in this season!

I admit, I'm a broken disaster on most days. Sometimes the attacks take a toll on me. It just shows me how much I need to depend on God to do any of this. If I had my way, I'd never speak out ever again. Yet because I have walked through this season with God, I know that I can't walk away. If I have truly laid my life down to Him, then I must speak.

With everything that has happened to me in my life and the way that God has redeemed it, it has given me a boldness in certain areas that scares people. I think most people would expect me to be hurt and unhealed emotionally. I think most people would expect me to be a doormat. I think most people expect me to be depressed and constantly negative. I think when people meet me in person, they are shocked of the joy and the smile on my face despite the hardships I write about on my blog. 

How did this happen? Only God can do it. You can't learn it from another.

You have to get to a place where you have nothing to lose anymore. 

You have to get to a place where doing God's work is more important than having men on your side.

Thankfully I know I can trust in God. I know that God has different thoughts about me than those around me who yell and curse me. 

Somehow in His amazing ways, God can use everything that I've been through in my life and use it for His good. He has used all of this to prepare me for the call on my life. 

I now have compassion for those who have been the victim of incest. 

I now have compassion for those who are chronically ill and doctors cannot help.  

I now comfort those who feel alone in their walks with God. 

I now comfort those who have been believing God for healing and it has not yet come.

I now point people to the One who truly matters; Jesus Christ!

It was in this season where the dependency of man was removed from me and I've had to learn what it means to really truly depend on God. That involved tears, pain, frustration, anger, lack and confusion at times. It is a normal part of the process!

When I stopped looking to men for my help,  I stopped sending others to men too. 

I started telling them directly about Jesus Christ and did not refer them to a book, teaching, video or healing course. These days I'm rather selective of the things I recommend to my friends, strangers and family because I know the impact it will have on that person's walk with God.

You don't learn to trust God by watching a video or reading the latest Bethel book or going to the next conference. You learn this by surrendering yourself to God as you go through tough times in life. There is no other way and no shortcuts around this.

What the devil has tried to use to literally kill me, silence me and wound me, God has redeemed. The devil sends his little minions from time to time in the form of baby Christians to attack me personally, but I just sing praises to God that the enemy lies are just that..LIES!

It is in this season where I had to decide if I was going to let the words of people get me to back down. Do I care that much about what people think about me to disobey God? Would I allow false-humility to keep me from fulfilling the call of God on my life? 

For some what I say looks critical and judging. 

For some my testimony and who I am today is offensive. 

For some they say I'm too young to speak.

For some they say I haven't been trained properly to have an opinion or voice.

There is always something that people will say about you, but the only thing that truly matters is what God is saying. It is common for people to label others with terms that have negative emotions or connotations attached. They do this to write you off, to discredit you in order to do character assassination. 

Jesus tells us an important lesson in Matthew 10:24-28 (emphasis mine).

24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! 

26“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

For those who God has called, there comes a place where you have to simply say to the people...."I'm continuing on and doing what God has called me to do. You can smear my name. You can do character assassination. You can even kill my body, but I'm going to continue with what God has called me to do!"

Once you are truly able to get to this place, then you are free. It doesn't mean the words won't hurt or you won't have dark days, but overall you realize that only following God and fearing God is what matters. 

Knowing God's Love During the Storms

Mix of dark clouds and sun. A storm passing through the area

When life is going good, it can be easy to see God's love in our life. Many associate God's love with the joy they feel and the blessings they have been given such as family, a good job and good health. But if those tangible things were taken away from you unexpectedly while you were faithfully following the Lord, could you still see God's love? Would you think God was upset with you because of something you had done? Would you still be able to continue to believe and trust in God?

Several months ago I was telling my husband that this long season has given me a different understanding of God's love. Even talking about this topic is tricky because God can choose to reveal His love to His children in different ways during different seasons in our lives and one way isn't necessarily wrong or right. Admittedly though my journey has been a bumpy ride and I never had a "honeymoon period" after being born again. I came to God while in a long battle and the battle raged even more afterward, so this gives you an idea of where I am coming from.

In this difficult trying place, God's love has not always been tangible, but that does not mean something is wrong with me nor does it mean He does not love me. There are some things I saw while in this season, that I wanted to write about. Because of the way many teach God's love, there were labels people wanted to put on me in this season that I had to actively and purposely reject. These labels and teachings can make those who are going through these stormy seasons, seem as if they are missing out or not measuring up in some way. It's easy to see God's love when life is good, but we also need to be able to see His love when things aren't going well because we were never promised a perfect life.

Does God's Love Mean Instant Answers to our Prayers?

 

I often saw people associating God's love with instant answers to their prayers. This is very dangerous.

God is faithful. He hears our prayers. We can trust in that because scripture tells us in 1 John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."

Sometimes God's timing and His answers to our prayers may not be what we expected or even wanted though. Therefore, if we attach God's love to immediate answers to our prayers, it WILL cause us to lose our faith and trust in God if there is a delay. I once heard a prophet say "Delays are not denials" and that is so important to settle within our hearts.

God really can be trusted even if and especially if there is a delay.

I have also seen many people link God's love with physical and emotional healing. Since I've walked this journey seeking God for healing of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome and other various chronic problems, it is absolutely the worst thing a person can do. While I agree healing is a demonstration of God's love, we cannot make it the cornerstone or the measuring stick of God's love in a person's walk. When a person has been praying, believing and asking God for healing for years and are not yet healed, it can be rather devastating to their faith, their hope and their trust in God.

We must more accurately focus attention to the cross instead of getting them to look to their healing as God's love.

Does God's Love Mean Instant Delivery From the Storms? 

 

Some ministries suggest since God loves us so much, that He will keep the really bad things from happening to those who have "truly surrendered". But if for some reason a trial does come, then people who "know who they are in Christ" will have a quick delivery in all trials. These two teachings coupled together are very dangerous.

I walked down this path and listened to these teachings and they produced no life. It nearly made me leave the faith only a short 8 months after I was saved. The problem is as soon as a trial comes or does not leave as quickly as we thought it should, these teachings will cause a person to question everything, even God.

These teachings have bred a disdain for those who are sick, hurting or frustrated. Those who are healthy and living a great life are perceived as "spiritually healthy" and those who are in trials, sick and hurting are perceived as "spiritually sick". This is not biblical though.

We need look no further than the ministries of Jesus, Paul and the other apostles to see that this entire idea is false. Jesus himself clarified this false idea in the bible in Luke 13:4-5, when He brought up the 18 who died because the tower of Siloam fell on them. He said, “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The ideas taught in some groups have left many in the midst of storms feeling hopeless and defeated. Many teach that those going through trials especially a long term trial, that there is something wrong with their relationship with God or they haven't figured out "who they are" and they are "living in the old man" and much more. There's so many catch phrases out there that it's impossible to list them all here. However the overall idea in this group is that trials should be short lived, should not cause you any distress and should be overcome with ease. These attacks made to a person's relationship with God cause them to lose hope, lose trust in God and eventually lose their faith altogether. No matter how good they sound, these teachings are misguided.

Jesus wasn't short of revelation (given that He was fully God and fully man) and He certainly did not have a bad relationship with His Father. YET He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, which lead Him to be tempted by the devil. Jesus being put into this difficult set of temptations and trials had nothing at all to do with God's love for Him nor a lack of relationship with the Father. If you can believe this about Jesus' wilderness, then we must start believing it for other people's wildernesses as well.

God will guide us and carry us when the storms come and He will provide the way of escape during our struggles. However it may not be instant, even if we are fully surrendered and know our identity in Christ and are "living from the new man". In fact there is evidence in the scripture that says the opposite, which I'll touch upon later in this article. Sometimes there are things that God is doing in us during these storms that cannot be taught elsewhere. This isn't because of God, but is a part of our human nature. We tend to be stubborn and unable to see our own weaknesses until we go through difficult times.

Where Do We Find God's Love (No matter what)?

The demonstration of God's love is that He sent His son to die for us on the cross, even while we were lost and dead in our sin! He gave us His son Jesus Christ, so that we may be set free from sin and to be reconciled back to Him. Because of this we can now have a personal relationship with God and also have eternal life.

This is how one builds a strong foundation in God's love that will get them through the storms of life. This is the GOSPEL! For some people though this isn't enough. They have stopped preaching the Gospel and have replaced it with "revelation" that focuses on authority, power and experiences. But what good is power if it's not to preach the Gospel and God's love seen in His son? The power of God is the cross!

If you first have to see God do something for you to know His love, then you may never make it there. Settling in your heart that God's love is seen on the cross is what will actually carry you through to the other side, to the fulfillment of His promises for you.

When we build a foundation on this, our life circumstances won't destroy us and we will be able to step into the call God has for us no matter how difficult it may be. There may be trying and frustrating times in our life, however we know that we can still approach God in our time of need. Nothing can take away from the power and love demonstrated on the cross because it stands forever and ever. Even if we are sick or in poverty or being persecuted in chains! We can trust that God's love has not left us and has not faded away. God has not set Himself against us in any way when we meet obstacles and road blocks along the way. We can boldly come to God in our time of need and continue to ask God for our needs.

I am fully aware of all the scriptures that says that God will provide and God will heal and God will give us good gifts etc. Yes I understand and agree completely that God can and will bless us in our life according to His purposes. However if we need those things to know or to prove that God loves us, that is precisely the problem. It is not a stable foundation.

This is not limiting God. In times where we have nothing and in times where we have plenty, God will use it all for His purposes. We see this stated by Paul in Philippians 4:11-13.

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Paul, one of the most "anointed" men, suffered from want at various times in his ministry. So if it's OK that Paul did, then it is OK if you are too. Please understand me here. That's not to say we can't ask God for help, but nothing is spiritually wrong with you if you have a need. Nothing! Do not let any teachers convince you that you are spiritually unwell because you have sickness in your body or because you lost your job or are going through financial trouble.

Some of the teachers today may have likely told Paul that "he must not know who he is in Christ" since he suffered from need at times.

Is God's Love Always a Feeling?

The third mistake is that many believe or even teach that God's love is something that they will always "feel" or "see". There are times and seasons where God may give us an outpouring of His love and we should cherish that! Sometimes though we will go through seasons where we will not feel His love, but we know that He loves us because of what His Word tells us. If you are in one of those seasons where you are not feeling His love, do not let anyone tell you that you are less of a Christian for some reason. Do not base your walk with God on other people's experiences.

In the seasons when we do not feel His love, we stand on God's word and receive His love through His word.

When our relationship with God feels a bit distant, it's important to understand that it does not mean that God is distant. Scripture says that, He will never leave us nor forsake us. This scripture is a promise to us when we aren't feeling loved and when everything in life is a disaster. In the book of Job, even though Job did not feel God's presence during his trials, God was listening to every single word and every single cry from Job.  

God is present even if we don't feel His manifest presence. This is such an important thing to remember because so many are chasing God's presence when He is always there.

If we need to see, feel and experience things to know God's love, then the enemy will use it against us so that we never make it to the fulfillment of the promises God has made to us. The enemy wants you to start questioning God's love (because of what you don't see or feel). He wants you to become discouraged and walk away from God.

It's so important in these times of our life to get in the Word and to really start reading it through on our own. If you have trouble understanding it, then every day continue to pray for God to reveal it to you, to help you understand and the Holy Spirit will come and do that. I know that I had to keep at it and then suddenly one day it was like the letters jumped out at me and everything started to make sense. And when that happens a glorious thing will take place. Instead of just regurgitating what others are saying, God will be able to lay down real foundations in your life that YOU personally live by. It won't be what "so and so says" but it will become real in your own life. It's so important to get to this place during these difficult times.

Paul Knew God's Love Despite His Hardship

As I already mentioned above, Paul went through a lot of stuff. Yet he saw God's love while in a prison, being beaten, shipwrecked and going hungry.

In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 we read about some of the hardships he was "boasting" in:

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure."

Remember in Philippians 4, Paul said that he learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself in. I hope we all can agree that God loved Paul very much and yet he went through all of these things in his life.

This helps us to realize that...

• God's love isn't based on what we are feeling.
• God's love isn't based on our life going good.
• God's love isn't based on the condition of our physical body. 
• God's love does not mean instant delivery or total protection from trials.

If you are going through a tough time, it doesn't mean you are a lesser Christian or have done something wrong or have turned God against you in some way.

We are to trust God during hardships and know that His great love is there because He sent His son Jesus! I have found meditating on what Jesus did on the cross can be really incredible. Think about how much God loved us to pay that kind of price. He wanted us to be reconciled back to Him!

When we come against obstacles, do not let anyone try to tell you that you are in that situation because you aren't committed enough or aren't surrendered enough or "don't know who you are in Christ" or 'are living out of the old man". It's best to just ignore them and to continue on seeking the Lord in your walk.

Scriptures of God's Love 

Read these scriptures and meditate on them to understand where God wants you to see His great love.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

^"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),..." Ephesians 2:4-5

"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:2

^"For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5: 7-8

"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4: 9-10

We are Conquerors in the Trials

This next scripture takes the idea of God's love to a whole different level. All of Romans 8 is amazing, but I have found many chop this one verse in half and ignore the context in which it was made because it's such a difficult and yet powerful message.

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:35-39

I'm not sure about you, but this doesn't sound like the "It is Finished" "God loves you message" that is very popular right now. Paul is talking about a lot of tough situations in this scripture which are being done to the physical bodies of Christians. These are Christians in need. He is also quoting out of Psalm 44:22, which talks about how they were being killed for God's sake, not because they had turned away from God, but because they were following God.

If we quickly head over to Psalm 44:17-22 this is the context of what Paul quoted:

¹⁷ All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our steps departed from your way;
¹⁹ yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
    and covered us with the shadow of death.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Paul was not preaching the love message that is being preached today in many groups. This scripture along with Romans 8:35-37, pretty much says, if you are following God, then you should expect trouble to come. It's not because you have turned away, but it's because you are following God.

Paul continues on that we can take courage that even while in these trials that we are overwhelmingly conquering in Christ and that nothing can separate us from His love. In some translations it says, "we are more than conquerors in Christ", so just because you are going through something does not mean you are "spiritually sick".

We must believe this, that when we see trials, even unto death, that it does not mean God does not love us or turned His back on us. For those In Christ, we are more than conquerors.

Conclusion

What God demonstrated in His son Jesus can not be undone. No matter what Satan or man does to us, it cannot remove us from His love. Sometimes God will call us out upon the waters like He did with Peter on the boat, but we can trust God in these places. You have been called there and that is what makes it stable. Know that God is there. He has called you here. He sees. He knows. He hears. You can feel broken, tired and weak, but God will carry you through those times. Trust in Him.

In these times, we absolutely must look to the demonstration of God's love on the cross. Things that happen to us in our life are going to call into question God's love and His goodness. If we put emphasis on how our life is going or on our feelings, then we very well may believe that we are unloved and rejected by God. If these feelings harbor long enough, one could walk away from the faith. But know if you are going through stuff, it's not because your relationship with God is bad or that God has given up on you.

I want to encourage people who feel like they lost their faith because they misunderstood God's love to come back and to recommit. God really does love you despite what you see in your life. He is calling you back today because He loves you. Tell someone the struggle you are going through and pray that God reveals His word to you in a bigger way because it will refresh you as you walk through the storms.

Don't Deny Reality: Have Faith in God, Not Faith in Your Faith

I'll be starting off with a scripture out of Romans 4.

Romans 4:19-21

"Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."

This single scripture found in Romans 4 tears down the popular healing theology which says you have to believe you are already healed in order to be healed. This scripture also tears down the teachings that say illnesses are just "lying symptoms" and if a person believed the symptoms were real, then that is why they got sick or remained sick. These commonly held beliefs on healing are unbiblical.

The deadness of Abraham and Sarah's body was very real. It was nothing that Abraham or Sarah did/said or thought that made their reproductive systems unable to produce a child. Sarah had always been infertile (Genesis 11:30) and on top of that, now she was an elderly woman past any capability of carrying a child. If all that Abraham and Sarah had to do was believe that they could conceive a child at their age in order to conceive a child, then we are actually reducing the miracle that God performed here and bringing New Age "power of the mind" into our churches. This is terribly wrong and offensive to God! As we read in the scripture above, "he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."

Abraham's faith was correctly focused on God's ability to perform the miracle He had promised. This is where we should focus our faith as well.

We simply believe that *God* is the One able to perform the miracle. Our faith is in God. It is not faith in our faith and not faith in our ability to believe that we are "already" healed. Faith is not a denial of reality either. It's seeing the reality of what is going on in our body (or in our life) and despite that, still believing the promises from God. That's real biblical faith! That's good news because you don't have to become superstitious about your words. You can simply rest in your heart that no matter what happens or what comes your way, you are still looking to Jesus.

If you are in a multiple year battle or in a battle where your sickness is progressively getting worse (or  fatal), you have to be settled about this. Otherwise as you walk this journey with the Lord, your faith in God will get shipwrecked and you will begin to focus inward and condemn yourself for not "believing right" if things get worse. I've seen it time and time again with many friends and strangers online. They have been so confused by putting their faith in their faith, their words, their declarations and their "positive confession" that they aren't even looking to God anymore. We should simply keep our focus on Jesus and not on us.

If you are believing God for a healing, it's OK to see and feel the sickness in your body. However you should, just as Abraham, be careful not to allow it to waiver your faith in God or in God's power or ability to heal. Simply continue to stand on the promise of healing that God has made to you and know that HE is the One able to perform them, regardless of how impossible your situation looks in the natural. With Abraham and Sarah, their situation literally was impossible.

Consider in Genesis 18:14, when Sarah laughed at the thought of having a child at her age, what did God reply to Abraham? “14 Is anything too difficult for the Lord?...”That was a rhetorical question of course because we know that nothing is too difficult for the Lord.

Now unbelief occurs when a person doubts God's ability or power to heal their body. These are things we may have to face and wrestle at times in our walk with God. I think that's part of the growing process and maturing in the faith. As long as we don't call it quits and walk away from the faith, I think this is a healthy process that needs to be encouraged with care.

When Peter doubted as he walked on the water, Jesus didn't just let him drown. Jesus reached out and grabbed him during his weakest moment and brought him to safety. We can trust that God will do the same for us in our weakest moments. Sadly with the way some ministers teach doubt and unbelief, you would have thought Jesus just watched Peter drown! haha

This whole post might sound a bit semantical to some, but it is really important for those who are  believing God for the impossible. Understanding that our faith is in God's ability to perform what He has promised is KEY! It takes the burden off the sick person who has wrongly been told they must pretend they are already healed or have been told they are still sick because they believed "lying symptoms". Whether the church realizes it or not, but this actually destroys the relationship between the suffering person and God. It makes God into an impersonal force who will release healing only when you finally believe "just right". It's such an awful, destructive doctrine.

As a church, we need to have more compassion and understanding, so we can build people up and bring their focus onto God instead of towards themselves. 

True faith is not about how hard you muster up a feeling or try to believe, but instead it is about WHO you believe in. 

Updated: March 2016

Some Things God's Taught Me in this Season...Humility, Trust, Doctrine, Surrender, Charity

Humility. "a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness".
This is a big one and one of the hardest to learn and walk in...It requires us to be broken and challenged deeply. BUT and this is the important thing. We have to come out on the other side with a greater love, compassion and grace for others. Every one will go through hard times, but for some it causes the person to become hardened and prideful. You will see this typically as a "get over it" or a tough guy type attitude. However as Christians, God challenges us to grow in maturity by not reacting this way. When God brings us low, it is to impart grace, love and compassion for those who we once disregarded or thought were inferior to us for various reasons.

The specific areas where you hold pride and self-righteousness may be very different from mine. Here's some of the areas God had to bring me low...

• Dying to my political beliefs which I made my identity for a long time. Saying goodbye to Republicanism and everything that goes along with it. Letting go of my lack of compassion for people on welfare and disability that was masked as "political beliefs". Letting go the idea that I somehow "did things right" as a opposed to those who found themselves in bad situations.

When we found ourselves unable to feed ourselves, God told us to go on food stamps. We had to walk into the assistance office and to be seen with "those people". We began shopping at walmart on welfare day and saw everyone else there who were also on food stamps. Looking into their eyes and seeing they are just like me! Having to swipe the access card at the register, so everyone knows "they are on food stamps". God brought me low and took away the ego and pride that was inside of me. I used to think I was better than these people. I became one of them.

• Dying to my knowledge of natural health which I made my god. Saying goodbye to thinking that I was more enlightened because I "did things naturally" and was very self-righteous. God told me to quit all chronically ill, natural health groups and to remove myself from all discussions involving these things. I had to stop looking at natural ways to get well and to start looking to Jesus Christ as my healer. I had to stop thinking that I could fix myself with a diet, a supplement or some new health theory and had to come to realize that I needed God.

• Dying to thinking I was a better person because I ate a certain way or did not eat certain foods. For some it can be juicing, veganism, paleo, gluten free etc. I had to stop looking down on people who didn't eat organic or in the way I thought was "right". I had to come to a place where I was just happy that I had food to eat.

Trust in God. "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something " This is another hard one to learn. It required me to stretch myself to the point of total brokenness...The place where God called my husband and I to stand, it stretched me so much...so, so, so much. And because of where he called us, these are the things God has shown us in this season.

• Dying to the idea of there being spiritual formulas and spiritual laws one can "master" to make God heal, deliver and send provision etc. Trust and relationship with God is not found by saying a list of declarations and following a list of rituals. Trust is letting go of control in your own strength and allowing God to do what He wants to do. Trust is in God, not in our methods or words we speak. We have to learn to be patient and wait for Him, even when we don't want to or even when we don't believe this to be true. hahah!

• Dying to the idea of knowing how or when healing is going to happen. Tough one!! I believed I was going to be healed in 2013. Here we are coming to the end of 2014...

• Dying to the idea of really even understanding our walk at times! Trusting God can look like unbelief or laziness to others on the outside who haven't walked the same path. God may put us in a season that requires total trust without Him giving us much information to know where we are to walk or what is coming.

• Dying to the idea that I can make it happen... This is very hard. This one not many people agree with because of the way we teach healing and suffering in the church today. Repeating declarations and the general idea that  "if I just say the words exactly right and with enough belief then it will happen"...does not make it happen. Healing is a personal transaction between us and our Lord. It is not a mastering of a universal law or life force. We are not the New Age!

Learning to trust in the Lord is not something that can be imparted by a touch at a conference.  Be careful not to chase a particular healing minister or pastor instead of trusting God. Man will disappoint us every time.

Biblical Doctrine. This is another big one for me. Coming into this, I didn't think I could learn scripture on my own nor write on biblical topics. But God challenged me big time...With this challenge, He had me unfriend, unfollow and unlike just about every single ministry page and had me start over again from the ground up. God wanted to teach me Himself without having other voices tell me how to interpret scriptures or what I should believe instead of what is actually written in the bible.

This allowed God to show me a lot of things! This allowed God to correct me, discipline me and change what I believed. He gave me discernment! He showed me deceptions! He prophetically showed me where certain ministries were heading. It was like everything opened up to me and things became so clear in the Word.

It has been in this season, that God really built a foundation in me. He put a fire in my heart to preach the gospel and what he has shown me and to not hold back no matter how hard it might be and no matter who may stand against it. He put a commitment in me to do what he has called me to do. This part of my walk is honestly what keeps me going! Knowing that God has not put all of this in me for nothing. That he has a plan for me (and my husband!). And that He is going to make these things come to pass.

God is God. Sonship does not mean Godship. Sadly many today believe in the manifest Sons of God doctrine that deifies man. Even though God has given us authority in Jesus' name, God's will rules above ours and we should pick up our cross and follow Jesus. This does not mean that God does not love us nor does it mean God does not want good things for us. However I have had to come to a place of realizing that I am the clay and He is the potter. We follow Him and that's in the good and the bad. That's when He calls us to stand in stormy places and also when He calls us to stand in calm places. We should have a reverence for the Lord, His will and His word.

Charity. People have helped us so much in this season and I have been so very grateful and thankful. It has challenged me deeply with the way I will now bless others who are in need. I could have added this to the humility section, but I wanted to highlight it. Those who have given us money have never once questioned me how it was being used or where it was going. I'm not sure I would have done the same before this season. God has really changed my heart and put a desire in me to bless those in bad situations! We would not be here today if it weren't for people's generosity and charity! I want to be able to make that difference in someone elses life now.

Overcoming rejection. In this season, I have seen a lot of rejection and yet God was able to build confidence in me. As God started to teach me the Word, I began to become more confident in what He had taught me and I started to share with people online. Since I don't really leave my house often, this was the natural place for me to start. I started being outspoken on FB, YT and on my blog. Sometimes I got banned, blocked and unfriended. And yet God kept telling me to keep speaking and to open my mouth and say the things He has taught me.

I remember one time in particular, I was at a meeting and I felt very strongly to go and pray for this lady. I walked up to her and I said, "I feel the Lord wants me to pray for you. Would that be ok?" And the lady replied back to me, "No I don't want you to pray for me".  That was NOT what I was expecting considering it was a healing meeting and she let another lady pray for her, but to this day I think God set that one up for me. haha I think God tests us more than we imagine...

We have to be very careful that we don't let people's words hurt us to the point where we stop obeying God out of a fear of rejection. When we know that God has called us on a certain path, then we have to take confidence in it and start walking in it. We can't let the rejections stop us.

Sometimes though the path God has us on, will not always run parallel with others in our life. If they unfriend you, then you have to forgive wherever possible and just move on. I had to stop allowing disagreements cause me to start doubting and questioning God's call on my life. I almost walked away from what was in my heart because I was letting a fear of man get to me. We have to stand firm in the confidence of what God has spoken to us and then preach that knowing the potential costs.

These are just a few things I've learned so far in this season. There's so many more!!

"I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice" - Have We Lost the Heart of Jesus?

Before I was saved, I used to be very involved in the natural health and chronic illness communities. If you want to see what I used to do, you can read all about that journey in the archived posts from 2008-2011. I used to research scientific theories, come up with new ideas and try out different treatment options. I knowingly and willingly made myself a guinea pig in hopes of finding something that would cure me and work for others who were sick with similar conditions.

Over the years, my husband and I started noticing that people would invest their personal identities and get their value from following a diet, a supplement regimen, treatment plan or even going to a specific doctor. The followers of these groups would become die-hard fans and they would defend it against any questions or claims whether legitimate or not. I will admit I fell into this trap myself and repeated many of the "truths" that were promoted in these groups without first testing them out myself.

In these communities, if a person ever had complications or problems with a diet, treatment plan etc., the people were so loyal to that specific plan that they would yell and blame the person that needed help. They would pick apart the person's eating habits, dosing schedules, lab results and look for ANYTHING they could use to blame the lack of results on the person.

Ultimately, no matter how well a person followed their plan or advice, as long as they weren't seeing results, they could never do it right and it was always determined to be the person's fault when it did not work.

When God spoke to me in July 2012 and pulled me out of the natural health communities to pursue Him for healing, I spotted the exact same error in the church too.

In this post, my focus will be mainly on the healing portion of ministry. I'm going to thoroughly discuss the effects of having misplaced our identities and personal value in healing teachings, doctrines and ministers.  I will also talk about the effect it is has had on the sick people who are on the receiving end as well. This is a long post, so here we go. :)

Doctrine Becomes A Weapon Against Those in Need

Having sound doctrine is important and we should always be studying the Word to examine our beliefs. However if our doctrine ever becomes a yoke we put on those we were once trying to help, then we are in error.

Nearly every healing ministry sets up a specific plan or some sort of guideline for the sick to follow. I understand that these were created with good intentions and were meant to give the sick a plan of action to keep people on track.

Problems arise when people go through "this plan", but they did not receive their healing. It can be a confusing time for many sick people because they believed this was what they were supposed to do.

When a person in need tries to get help or has questions about healing, the same doctrine that was once used to "help" the sick becomes a weapon used against them. Often times the sick person is told to go through the checklist again and again and again because they "could not have done it properly". Their lives are picked apart and many doctrines then go on to look for a secret sin, hidden emotional roots and anything else they can to put all blame on the sick person. It's also very popular to say that the sick person doesn't really believe or doesn't really want to be healed. Some teachers say things like, "The sick have to want to be healed. We can't do it for them". It shows that those pushing the doctrine think they are 100% right and the person in need is 100% wrong. It also shows how much we as a Church have lost our compassion for the sick and hurting and have become blinded by a doctrine or teaching put out by popular ministers.

The heavy burdens and yokes we put on those in need and looking for help are unscriptural.

Matthew 11:28-30
  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It's not like I am talking about people who are practicing sin and are unrepentant. I'm also not talking about unbelievers or atheists who are actively against God. I'm not even talking about Cessationists who don't believe it's God's will to heal His children through the prayers of his church.

I am talking about people who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, know it's God's will to heal, come to healing meetings, buy healing books, watch YT videos on healing and are following Christian healing pages on facebook. These people are plugged in and seeking the Lord with all their heart.

And yet, when these people struggle or have a question, for some reason many in the healing movement take that as a personal attack to their own identities. Why? Well I believe it is because many have based their identities on these doctrines, ministers and teachings instead of getting their identity from Jesus and knowing His heart. We need to reevaluate 'what' or 'who' has our heart! If we are getting our value from a doctrine or a minister that we follow, then we need to recognize this and ask the Lord to help us. We should always be looking to the Lord Jesus Christ for our personal identity and value, but sometimes we falsely base our identities off of the doctrines, churches and ministers that we follow.

People outside of the church do this too with their political parties, sport teams and even colleges. This is not something that is limited to the Church, but we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Even Paul warned about identifying with a leader within the church because of the problems it caused with rivalries and factions.

1 Corinthians 1:11-13
¹¹ For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. ¹² Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 
 

Do We Have a Heart for the Sick?

In recent years, a teaching that has gained popularity is "knowing your identity in Christ" or "knowing who you are". This teaching is extremely important and it's a place where the church needs to grow. However, even though it is widely taught among the Charismatic and Pentecostal circles, it has had very little impact on keeping people from misplacing their identities in a ministry, church or a teacher. In fact, identity teaching has become another doctrine where many use it as a weapon against the sick and hurting, to disqualify them from being healed.

Ministers may say things like, "If you really knew who you were in Christ, then you would be healed. Sickness could not even stay in your body".

This is an example of taking a teaching and using it to attack the person in need. The repercussions from a statement like that could be devastating to a new believer. Doesn't the minister need to "know who he is in Christ" in order to pray for the sick to see them healed too?

Somehow ministers become immune to any correction and all the burden is put on the sick person.

There is a major disconnect between what is taught by ministries and what is actually practiced when presented with a person who is in need. If we actually knew the Person of Jesus Christ and understood His heart and nature and what that truly meant (outside of  repeating phrases we heard someone else say), then I truly believe our actions would look much different when a person comes to us for help.

A church that has a heart for the sick would be spending a lot more time praying specifically for healing of those who want prayer instead of writing books about why people are not healed. There would be meetings that are completely focused on praying for the sick and the sick would be encouraged to come and get prayer repeatedly. These meetings would be tailored to the sick and not to healthy. At meetings, the worship and the message would be shortened in order to be able to pray for as many people as possible. There would also be a person leading the way and praying for the sick. The sick would not be passed on to members of the audience who may or may not have any desire to pray for the sick (or may not even be saved)! Most "healing" meetings in the American Church end with the audience instructed to pray once or twice for a person near them, while the worship band packs up their gear. Somehow the two hours of singing and one hour message became more important than actual prayer. This is what passes for a "healing meeting" today.

It is wrong. It is an embarrassment.

Almost all healing meetings these days are called, "training and equipping" events where it's mostly meant for able bodied people to go for entertainment. It's simply a pep-rally. Sorry this may be harsh, but most of them are not really healing events at all for the sick and yet these are the only real healing events that take place in the church. The person dying from cancer simply needs someone to pray the prayer and to encourage them in their faith. These training and equipping events will never fulfill the needs of the sick found in the Body of Christ, so there has to be more! Where are all the people these events are supposedly training? It's like a college with thousands of graduates and students, but none of them ever apply for a real job or leave their dorm.

If we give our hearts to a method created by man, often times we become spiritually blinded too. Even in our search for "truth", we tend to look at everything through the lens of that ministry or doctrine. We tend to follow and believe whatever is put out by them without first searching the Word or asking Holy Spirit for guidance. Early on in my journey I was guilty of this too and I accepted many interpretations of scripture as truth without doing my own study. I would later find out how much people twist scripture to fit into their teachings or purposely ignore entire verses and chapters as well. In addition, when we endorse a teaching we tend to ignore the gentle questioning within our spirit and it can become potentially dangerous, leading us into deception. I believe this is why there is such an influx of psychology, new age, new thought and other metaphysics entering into the church disguised as inner healing, deliverance and prophetic ministries.

Anyone can slip into the trap of having their value and identity come from a minister or teaching. We have to constantly guard against it, recognize it and put our focus back on what Jesus did for us.

I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice

Looking back when I was in the natural health communities, it always started off with someone who had good intentions. I know this to be true in the church as well. We love Jesus and are simply trying to give reasons as to why a person isn't healed and we are trying to give people something they can do to be healed. Unfortunately though even in these good intentions, it becomes something that is very bad. Many go on to use the knowledge they have learned to attack the very people they were once trying to help. How many of us in the church have heard things like:

"You must have some doubts you don't want to admit to".
"You don't have sufficient belief for healing".
"Maybe there's some hidden sin in your life that you just won't let go".
"You didn't find the appropriate root that's keeping you from receiving healing".
"You must have some secret doubt about healing".
"Your negativity is keeping you sick".
"Maybe you don't really want to be healed".
"You are sick because you don't want to give up your disability check".
"You probably just want to stay sick so you don't have to work".

Taking the scriptures and knowledge one has learned and using it in this manner is not OK. If Jesus Christ is our identity, then where is His grace? Where is His love? Where is His patience? Where is His righteousness? Where is His redemption?

We should remember,
Matthew 11:28-30
  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

When we say these kinds of things to the sick, we have strayed away from understanding the heart of Jesus. We are no longer representing Jesus, but instead putting the burdens of man onto the sick. These are the kinds of traps and lifeless uses of scripture that the Pharisees used against the people of their day. Remember that Jesus said to them, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice". We are in error when we push a doctrine to the point of actually tearing people apart with the scriptures that were meant to bring us life and freedom in Christ. When we enslave and indoctrinate the sick into a method, then we lose an opportunity to connect them to Jesus. Scripture is more than just words... It's supposed to point back to the living God!

As ambassadors of Christ, we cannot be lashing out at hurt, sick people who have come to us for help. I know that sick people can be emotionally unwell, but that does not give us justification to treat them poorly.

They are bound in their sicknesses. They need to see His compassion and grace shine through us. If we cannot help them, then we always need to be pointing them to the one who can always help and that is Jesus.

If you are interested more about what "I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice" means, then I highly recommend reading this article on another blog.

 

Those in Need Shouldn't Have to Prove Themselves

The checklists that most ministries want the sick to do are impossible to ever fulfill or complete in a way that is satisfying or final. Many of the requirements are open ended and can always be questioned or doubted.

For instance, a person cannot prove they have removed or dealt with roots, doubts, sin, unforgiveness nor can they show a person their level of belief or faith. These are heart issues that only God truly knows, so this naturally becomes an easy point of attack for those on the outside. There is a high cost when we force the sick to prove themselves to us time after time. Many leave the faith and walk away totally away from God. In the very least, they begin to have a twisted view of God's nature and they start to feel like healing is tied to a checklist of things that need "fixed". The sick and hurting then become self-focused rather than Christ-focused.

Instead of looking for what's "wrong" in the sick and needy, we need to simply be pointing them back to Jesus Christ. The reality is we do not know why people are or are not healed. The reality is there is no secret revelation or formula to see more healings. The reality is even if a person dots every "i" and crosses every "t", it does not mean they even know God. Remember, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice". It's not about how well we can follow a checklist. It's about knowing and understanding the heart of God. Following a healing doctrine perfectly does not mean the sick will be healed. This is something that every healing minister and every person in the Church who wants to pray for the sick needs to understand. There is not something wrong with everyone who is not healed by your doctrine, your prayer, your church or your favorite minister. To think this way, it is not godly, but instead arrogant and prideful in yourself and in the ministries and doctrines you follow. Instead of trying to make ourselves look good, we need to begin surrendering these mindsets to the Lord.

We must always point back to Jesus instead of pointing people back to a man or to a teaching. Jesus is the only healer and that is who we need to point people to no matter what is going on.

It's also important to note that when someone comes down with a sickness in their lives, it does not mean they have a bad relationship with God or that they "opened a door". Even the biggest legends in healing history had major struggles in their lives. John G. Lake's first wife died while he was in ministry serving the Lord. Smith Wigglesworth was struck with several illnesses during his life. Despite a lot of prayer, he had chronic kidney stones that were never healed. He also had an appendicitis for 6 months and was on his deathbed. He was delivered of this condition, but he still endured the struggle and was not healed instantly. His daughter was also deaf and despite many prayers, she was never healed.

I find it sobering and humbling to know that even those who many put on a pedestal dealt with the same exact things that we deal with today. We don't have all the answers. We have made too many assumptions and that has cost us our compassion, humanity and love for people. We have to put our trust in God, not people of the past, not doctrines, not a minister, not a church and not a pastor. It is our faith in Jesus that will guide us through the struggles of life and the disappointment when people are not healed when we pray. We need to stop blaming the sick! 

A Dishonest Presentation Brings a Distorted View

"You are already healed!". "By His Stripes you WERE healed!".

We preach these phrases, but it's a dishonest presentation and that is why many ministries see disgruntled sick people. 

It is true that Jesus already paid the price for us to be healed. Jesus' sacrifice was perfect and we do not need Him to die again to heal us today. I don't know of anyone who is calling for such a thing. However that one time sacrifice for all does not mean we are 'already healed'.

When Jesus died, rose from the dead, sat down at the right hand of God and Holy Spirit was sent to live inside of believers, sickness on earth and in man's body did not instantly disappear. If all sickness had completely left the world after the resurrection of Jesus, then I would agree that we were "already healed". Despite what Jesus did, the earth is still under the effects of sin and people still have sickness in their bodies.

I sincerely ask people to reconsider the way in which we preach healing. The way in which Jesus proportioned healing for us was in fact "easy" for us (, but highly costly for Him). However the way in which we obtain that healing in our body is a mystery.

Please do not allow the simplicity of what Jesus did for us to cause you to lose your compassion for those struggling. Please do not allow the teachings and ideas put out by man cause you to lose your hunger and desire to see the sick set free.

When we are seeking the Lord for healing, it is not like we are trying to put together a table from IKEA.

When we buy a table from IKEA, we know when we follow Steps A through T, if we follow the directions exactly, that at the end we will have the table we purchased. This is NOT how healing works and we have done a huge disservice to think in these kind of terms.

There's a distorted view in the church of how intense the struggle can be for someone who is believing God for healing. Many sick people go it alone too and have no support there to help them along the way. They reach out to these ministries because they have no one else. As sick people go through this battle the church does very little in order to encourage them to keep hanging on.

Closing Thoughts

My husband and I have been seeking healing for over 2 years now. I have been sick for more than 14 years and my husband has been sick for about 6 years. We currently have no income and have sold off everything that we own that had value to pay to live. Everything with value is now gone and we live each month by faith. We have been through every healing method that is out there and we have gotten prayer from many different people (including very popular Facebook and YouTube ministers) and yet we have not been healed. I don't know why. I don't try to make up a reason. I don't blame anyone for the prayers not working. Despite all of that we still need healed. I can't just "let it go", "get over it" or decide in my head that healing is not important or just shrug my shoulders and move on with life. I'm not "already healed". Without the real Jesus I have no life. I will have another 40+  years of sickness, poverty and eventually homelessness and bankruptcy. No one and nothing can change that but Jesus! Hallelujah!

The reality is is that when YOU are the sick person, things change big time. It is easy to look from the outside in and judge, ridicule and shift blame. However when doctors say to you, "Sorry sir, but there is no treatment or cure for this" or "Sorry, but surgery was unsuccessful and you'll have to be in a wheelchair for life", this is when Jesus being a healer has to be more than a doctrine with catchphrases.

The church of today focuses so much on entertainment. We worship a God that we don't even know anymore. We have lost his heart and have filled that void with doctrine, ministers and church events. When you are the one who needs healing to be real, you cease caring about these things. It's child's play. It's a distraction. It's a way to feel as if you are doing something "spiritual" when you aren't. When you are in a time of desperate need, your spiritual life ceases being about entertaining church events and it entirely becomes about seeking and believing Jesus for His promises. All of the things people say to shift blame to the sick person, it changes when it's YOU in that position. No one truly understands what it is like to be in this position until you are in this position.

The problem is that there are no real healing meetings in the church anymore. We have meetings where we sing praises to God for hours and "soak in the presence", but then we won't tend the sheep that God commanded us to tend. We won't comfort the hurting or sick. What good is our meetings? What good is our events? What good are the programs? In Isaiah 1:11-17, God shows us how the things we do can become a burden to Him. In fact some of the words for worship in the Greek has little to do with music and everything to do with reverence and service to the Lord. If we are worshiping God, then our hearts should be bursting with a joy and desire to pray for the hurting, broken and sick. We should want to reach down and help them to see the Lord.

Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians when they turned the Lord's supper into a dinner party where the rich left overstuffed and the poor left hungry. This is not much different today in the meetings we have in the church. We've turned church meetings into concerts and games, where we watch the sick leave in need and hungry with no where to go! Why do we despise those who come to get prayer for healing? Why do we despise those who have nothing when we have gotten our fill? If Paul came to our church events and saw what we were doing, what would he say to us?

If we were honest we'd realize that the sick and broken have no where to go. No one wants to pray in a church environment because it's tough, risky and not entertaining. We are ok with concerts, writing books, releasing albums, long sermons and making videos, but when it's time for real ministry time, we run scared. We can't look the sick in the eye and care for them unless it's on our terms. We are ok if they sit in our worship meetings, go to our "training and equipping events', but they better be able to get healed on their own ! We don't have time for the sick in the Church because they show something deep within our selves that we are afraid to admit.

I've heard the lousy reasons why these meetings can't go on long.

You have to get home to watch a movie.
You have to go visit with your friends at Applebees.
You have to get home to prepare tomorrow's sermon.
You have to get back to the hotel to get on an early flight to do this same thing tomorrow.
You have to get home to pray to God and soak in His presence.

The church has turned its back on their sick brothers and sisters because they are too busy doing "stuff" that is more entertaining. We are addicted to entertainment whether inside or outside of the Church. We can't just sit still for a moment and look at what it is that we are doing.

Most sick people are not living at all and are barely surviving. Many live day to day and some commit suicide because they have no hope. They need a miracle and when they leave a church event, they can't just forget about it and be happy. They can't unwind by having dinner with their friends or go on a date night with their husband to forget about it. These people are grieving over the dinners and date nights they haven't had for years and the vacations they haven't been able to take. They are prisoners in their bodies and Jesus is their only hope.

The Church needs to stop being self-centered and become Christ-centered. When we attack these people or put huge burdens on them, their last hope is gone because we actually make Jesus bad news. The church has allowed wolves to come in and misrepresent the true nature of Jesus.

If you have made a doctrine or minister your identity, which caused you to embrace doctrines that were never demonstrated by Jesus, then you need to repent and make real changes to your ministry, your church and the way you pray for people. If you have taken the knowledge you've learned and used it as a weapon against the sick, you need to repent too. If you've created a "relationship" with God that is based around conferences, worship meetings and entertainment, you need to repent.

Let God guide you in this time and allow him to change you and mold you into what he wants for you. Pray that God shows you His heart and what he feels towards those who are sick and hurting. It does not matter what's popular or entertaining. What matters is knowing the heart of Jesus!

Let's make Jesus our identities, not our thoughts, doctrines, 10 step programs, worship concerts or anything else in between. Keep encouraging the sick to get prayer and encourage them to have a relationship with Jesus in their own homes. If we take that away from them, then they literally have nothing to live for and that's wrong because Jesus died for them so they may live!

"Standing" For a Healing: Are we leading people astray?

Author's Edit March 2015: Since I wrote this post, God had us walk down an even harder path. On Sept 12, 2013 my husband and I made the decision that we were done going to healing meetings. This post was mostly written from a place where we were going to meetings to get prayer and I thought that's what we were supposed to be doing. But God had other plans and ideas for us. God has shown me many of the things I believed needed even more purifying. I encourage you to read some of my new posts here and here.

The other day Holy Spirit reminded me that when I tell people I am "standing" for my healing, that I need to explain what that actually LOOKS like. Many have their own idea on what that is...Some of which I don't agree with at all.

In this post I'm going to cover a variety of points surrounding the idea of "standing" for healing. I will touch upon what faith or "belief" looks like in a sick person. This is an area where I feel there is a lot of confusion. I will also talk about how the popular "standing" methods are actually a part of the New Thought, Christian Science false religion. Understanding this will likely set a lot of sick people free from these teachings! I will also talk about what unbelief looks like in the sick. Don't worry I don't make it some abstract thing. ;)  Lastly I will touch upon how we have lost grace for the sick in the church. We see lots of grace in street ministries but not inside the 4 walls of the church. I hope this posts brings fresh ideas to those who are in healing ministries and to the sick who are believing God for their promise of healing.

Enjoy!

Faith Is Going to Get Prayer

---

When I say I am standing for healing, it means I am getting prayer and having hands laid onto me whenever possible. I talk to a lot of sick people and I really want to emphasize how important it is to go and get prayer in Jesus' name and have someone lay their hands on you. We are called to be obedient to the Word.

James 5:14-15 (NKJV)
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [emphasis mine]

It says to get prayer and prayer only. Today we have to go to people in the church that believe in Jesus as a healer. Back when the Bible was written, healing wasn't a debated topic so any elder would do. Unfortunately today we have to be a bit more choosy when it comes to who we get to pray for us. 

When you are obedient to the Word of God and go to get prayer, that is your mustard seed of faith! You don't wait for a feeling! We have already been commanded to GO in the Bible!

This can be witnessed throughout Jesus' ministry too. Remember that Jesus did not heal an entire city when he entered it. A person had to show a mustard seed of faith and come to Him or to one of His Disciples to receive healing. However, even if a person had doubts, Jesus still healed them as long as they came to him. He did not shoo them away and tell them to get more teaching in them like many ministries do today.

Matthew 8:1-3 (NKJV)
1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Holy Spirit Heals

---

It is by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of Christians that allows us to get prayer and receive healing from other Christians. Holy Spirit is a person with an identity. When we pray and lay hands on others, it is Holy Spirit that touches the sick to heal them. It is not our thoughts. It is not our "positive energy". It is not a universal "life force".

When you go and get prayer, don't get too focused on a specific minister praying for the sick. If you get prayer from one person and nothing changes, then keep going. If you get prayer from a popular healing minister and nothing happens, just keep going. I warn you not to get too hung up on a single person or a single event. Why? Because if you go to the "most greatest, spectacular healing evangelist" and nothing happens, you may take that as a sign of God's will for your life. This is not true! Jesus healed everyone who came to Him and he is the same yesterday, today and forever. You keep getting prayer until you see your healing. Persistence is something that I don't feel is being taught much today. Many sick people probably get prayer once or twice and if nothing happens, then they stop. I am encouraging you to keep getting prayer because this is what Jesus told us to do!

Don't get too caught up on a minister's youtube videos, testimonies and other things. Just know that it is Jesus doing the healing through a faithful servant here on earth.

Luke 11:9-10
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

This is a really great healing testimony of a woman that was healed of MS. It was not a quick healing and took many many prayers until the spirit of infirmity broke off of her.

In this woman's healing testimony, it was just some friends at her church that were the ones who eventually broke off the spirit. It didn't take some super, duper awesome healing minister who knew it all or had it all figured out. God will use anyone who makes themselves available and will use them when they step out to pray for the sick in Jesus name. There's a local man who prays for the sick and has seen amazing things, but he has prayed for both my husband and I and we haven't seen anything. So while this man has been the point of contact for Jesus healing in many lives, in ours it has not been. I don't know why it happens like that, but we continue to get prayer until healing takes place.

What Most People Say Is "Standing"

---

In Christian healing circles, here are some examples of things that sick people are told to do in order to "stand for their healing". Sadly many of these teachings are starting to become more like false New Thought, Christian Science teachings.

1. Quoting daily "By His Stripes, I am Healed" or telling people to say "I am already Healed!" 
2. Repeating out loud, reading out loud and listening to healing scriptures over and over again to change your situation through your "thoughts" or chemistry. 
3. Setting people on an internal struggle to find out why they "aren't receiving".
4. Pretending that you are "already healed" when you have actual sickness. Being told that if you focus or complain about symptoms, then that's a lack of faith.
5. Over-spiritualizing what it means for a person to have "faith"or belief.
6. Having a bunker mentality where you have to "do it on your own".
7. Becoming self-focused and doing mind "work" (i.e. eliminating hidden doubts, fears, unbelief).
8. "Finding the root" source or cause of your sickness. Once that is discovered, then your body can heal.

Many people I know will have a hard time digesting that list above... These are very popular teachings right now! The horrible thing about New Thought is that it very closely tries to resemble some legitimate teachings in Christianity. It even uses verses from the Bible to promote itself! Many of these verses are the same verses that people use to promote similar things in Christian healing circles. Mark 11:24 seems to be a particular popular one for New Thought teachers. If you are the kind of person who likes to read about differing religions to get a better feel of what to watch out for, I highly recommend just doing a google search for New Thought. You will probably be blown away by how much is now being embraced by healing ministries. It honestly scares me!

This is an area that many will disagree with me. However I feel that this is an area that needs exposed. If you quote things and repeat things as a method to "line up your mind" to create a a new reality or to "line up your mind" to see healing in your body, then this is New Thought. Jesus healing is not from our mind. We should only be listening to and reading the Bible to learn more about the nature and goodness of Jesus and the Father. Once our reading becomes about “positive thinking” or convincing ourselves that "we are already healed" and "it's already done, finished", then this is where it is the false teachings of New Thought, mind healing and affirmative prayer.  

Christ healing is not affirmative prayer.

I see so many sick people slamming their heads against the wall trying to follow these absurd teachings. Instead of being told to focus on what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are told to focus on our thought processes, how our words affect our mind and we even begin digging into our lives to find some "reason" for being sick. It spreads the ideas that we can overcome sickness by removing negative thoughts and ideas from our minds. These teachings and methods for "standing" are not of Jesus at all and it is part of the New Thought, Christian Science and New Age healing movements.

These ideas have infiltrated its way into Christian healing teachings. All of the teachings listed above breed contempt, frustration, disappointment, discouragement and feelings of unworthiness in the hearts of the sick (and in those praying for the sick too). Many teachings even go as far as to say, that the way you know if you are thinking right is that you are healed. If you aren't healed, then you aren't thinking right and you have to keep doing more "work". This is the most discouraging teaching of them all. I will be bold and say these are ALL lies from Satan himself.

Satan wants you to self-focus instead of looking into the eyes of Jesus and seeing the truth and love of what he accomplished on the cross.

New Thought Teachings Are Pushing People Away From God

---

Eventually many of the sick who use New Thought methods, get worn down, frustrated and WALK AWAY FROM GOD. In the very least, their view of God becomes distorted and many no longer consider Him good because they feel he is making them jump through so many hoops. God is not causing a person to jump through hoops nor is he causing a person to have a distorted view of himself.

After being victims to these teachings, the sick will even go on to say that healing must not really be for today because they've “done it all” or have "tried it all". Some may even start to say that God doesn't love them anymore or they actually start to spiritualize their sickness.

“God gave me this sickness for a reason. He wants me to help others with it.”
"This was God's perfect plan for my life"
"I guess God doesn't love me because I'm sick and I must not have good faith to get healed." 

Again these are all lies from the devil...

From my experience with these teachings, they do not produce much fruit at all. For every person healed, hundreds are left to rot on the side of the road and are told they have to get more teaching in them in order to be healed. There are so many sick people out there who got caught up in these teachings and have given up totally. The "name-it-and-claim-it", "get your thoughts right" message is destroying people. I have found many who promote this are healthy people and/or sick people who have taken credit for their healing. Both of these groups of people, really think it's about them. They think they have it all figured out. They really think it is their positive thoughts, their repeating of scripture and their doctrine that is keeping them or made them healthy. These people are very destructive to the sick whether they mean to be or not! I've just had to walk away from anyone who makes me feel it's my fault for being sick.

Healing has never been about us. It's never been about getting our thoughts right. It's never been about meeting some imaginary criteria in our minds. It's never been about "claiming it" or acting as though it's "already been done". It has always been about what Jesus suffered on the cross for us. If you try to get healed on your own merits, your own works and your own thoughts, it will never happen.

This is GOOD NEWS because you can stop trying to meet some weird criteria in your head. It is about His love and His faithfulness. Jesus destroyed the works of Satan and it is this truth that the devil doesn't want people to know. The devil couldn't care less if you have your thoughts in order because there is no power in this. There is power in the name of Jesus, so he's distracting you with these other weird teachings. 

Prayer Isn't To Twist God's Arm 

---

Getting prayer for healing is not about twisting God's arm to move. It's not about trying to meet some criteria for him to release "the goodies". When you get prayer for healing, you can be confident that God hears these prayers because it is His will for you to be made whole.

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Jesus promised us healing when he was beaten and died on the cross. God is not in heaven with a clipboard checking off items from a list of requirements a person must meet before healing them. 

You already qualify! Lots of sick Christians really need to hear that. YOU ALREADY QUALIFY!

You qualify, not from your own thoughts or merits, but because of the Faithfulness of what Jesus did on the cross! Many of the "standing" methods in today's healing ministries completely forget this when we don't see results. It's like they just want to give sick people homework to get them out of their hair. Unfortunately the "homework" they give people are sending them down a path of false teachings.

Also I feel the need to say that prayer is not a "science". It's about petitioning to God in Jesus' name, so that he may answer your prayers and make way for things. Prayer is not a way of declaring things or to put things "out into the universe". When you use prayer in this manner, it's not about Jesus at all. This way of viewing prayer is a false teaching as seen in New Age, New Thought and Christian Science religions.

Getting Prayer Isn't Always Going to Be Easy or Comfortable

---

Getting prayer is tough. People say dumb things to you. People will try to give you advice on your lifestyle, diet, supplement regimen and other things. You have to learn to ignore it. It can be hard to find people who believe that it's always God's will to heal. Sometimes it takes money to get to these places. Sometimes we don't have the money, so we have to ask for money to get to these meetings. Often times, if we are really sick, then we need a complete support team to help us to get there. For most sick people, going to these events, it means suffering with symptoms the entire time too. To those who are completely housebound, then I really recommend getting in touch with a local church that will send a prayer team to your house.

When the going gets tough, this is when you really have to believe that God wants you well and that God really is GOOD. This is a place where reading the Bible to understand the true nature of God is vital in order for you to stay in the fight. You have to realize that God loves you with all of his heart whether you are healthy or sick, BUT he is NOT the one who gave you sickness. He did not plan this for your life. God is not the author of the bad that happened in your life. The devil is the one that steals, kills and destroys and he declared war on us the day we were born (and even before that day).

I caution sick people. The worst possible thing you can do is to refuse to get prayer or to stop going to get prayer. When you refuse to get prayer whenever it is available to you then it's a hard truth to hear, but this is unbelief.

If you are flat out refusing to get prayer when someone is offering it, it is probably one of the most dangerous places a sick person can find themselves. If you haven't gotten prayer any time recently, my heart cries out for you. I pray that the Lord will lift you up and remove the hurt or the teachings keeping you away from Him; I pray this in Jesus name. Amen!

You have to get back in the fight. Always be willing to get prayer, whenever it is possible. I'm not saying you have to go to every single meeting in your area. haha Just be mindful of churches who hold healing events and be on the look out for ministers visiting in your area. You can't be passive or waiting for some sign to happen. The sign came when Jesus died for you on the cross.

Unbelief is When You Won't Get Prayer

---

If there is something keeping you from getting prayer, then yes that is unbelief.

Remember in Jesus' hometown, he was unable to do many miracles there. It stated that the people took offense towards him. They knew him as the carpenter's son and did not understand how he could be preaching like this. His words offended them. His actions offended them. If a person offends you, you aren't going to go over to them and have a pleasant conversation. Typically you are just going to be angry, mad and leave the person alone to go on with whatever it was you were doing beforehand. This is exactly what happened to Jesus and this is starting to happen with a lot of sick in the church.

Mark 6:5-6 
5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. [emphasis mine]

This scripture does not mean that Jesus laid hands on a bunch of people and it did not work. It does not mean that Jesus was "powerless" as some people like to preach it. It means that since they were so offended by his words, only a few came out to receive prayer. Jesus can't lay his hands on the sick if the sick don't show up to have hands laid on them.

This is the same for today. If you don't receive prayer or try to reach out for prayer, then Jesus won't be able to lay his hands on you through another Christian. Many of these "standing" methods are not a pursuit of Jesus at all and we have to be willing to walk away from all of the past failures or hurts we endured to follow what Jesus intended us to do for healing. That means getting ourselves into places where we get prayer.

Some of us may have to forgive ourselves for the time we spent on these teachings. While others may have to forgive the people who have said hurtful things. I know I was at that place. There was a time when I told God I was done getting prayer because I was so angry. Well the Lord did not give up on me. He helped me through that time! He gave me a prophetic word that touched my heart so much that I knew I had to keep going and that he really did have a plan for my life even though I hadn't seen it yet! All of the horrible things others were saying to me at that time was not how God saw me. It was probably the biggest breakthrough I have had through my journey. Prophetic words have been extremely instrumental in my journey! If you are in a really bad place and don't know a good prophetic person in your area, then check out Mary Crews online prophetic ministry. She does online calls about once a month.

The Sick in Jesus' Day Did Not Have it Easy

---

We also cannot forget what the sick in Jesus' day went through to come to him. They had no cars, no wheelchairs, no modern medicine and no air conditioning. Most traveling was done on foot. The sick had to fight their way to Jesus because of the large crowds that wanted to be touched by Him. There were likely many who turned away because it was too hard and we don't hear about those in the Bible. We only hear about those who dug in and persevered until they were able to make it to Jesus. Don't be the person who turns away! Some of the sickest were on mats and it took other people to drag them to the place where Jesus was preaching and healing. It's ok and Biblically accurate if we need others to help us along our journey. Don't get tricked into thinking it is your mind or thinking that will make you well!

It's important to understand that faith is a decision. It is an action to go and get prayer.  I know it can be discouraging to get prayer and see nothing. I understand all of the frustrations and disappointments. I have been there many many times. I have been in the middle of meetings and have cried because I wasn't healed. I have been on the way home from a meeting, crying out to God because I wasn't healed. I have shed more tears of disappointment than I care to even admit, but here I am. Pushing through all of that and continuing to get prayer has become part of the journey for many sick people in the church. I know it's not how the church is supposed to operate, but that is where we are right now. We have to know that we are in a war against the enemy's army. He is the one that keeps us sick.

We have to get back up and keep heading towards Jesus.

The Grace Message is Being Lost in Healing Ministry

---

As I said above, some people have been very badly hurt by the church. Many sick people feel rejected, condemned and judged by many teachings and by their fellow Christians who spread these teachings. We can accept God's grace when it comes to salvation, but when it comes to healing, we throw it totally out the window. I think this is because we have embraced New Thought, Christian Science and New Age teachings. More and more we are losing the Gospel message and embracing psychology and philosophy.

“If you doubt at all, then you won't be healed”
"Any negativity will keep healing from flowing"
"You don't have sufficient belief or you would have been healed already"
"God won't answer if you are needs driven"
"Getting too much prayer, shows you are needy"
"If you really knew your identity in Christ, you would be healed already"
"If you really knew your identity in Christ, you wouldn't have gotten sick"
"You need to get it on your own". 

Jesus never said anything like that to the sick. Why are we looking at the sick in such a negative way when God is not? Why do we take scripture and then use it to smack people over the heads with it? The church has more Grace and love on the street towards atheists, witches, drug addicts and prostitutes than we do for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who are sick.

We judge the sick.
We blame their faith.
We get offended if they are on disability.
We get offended if they don't listen to our worldly advice.
We blame their thoughts.
We blame some secret unknown sin that we have no evidence even exists.
We accuse them of having a secret desire to remain sick.
We even think that some are faking to get attention.
Many think if they were sick, then they have it all figured out and would be instantly healed.

It's no wonder I have to rally the sick to get them back into the church for prayer. (heh I have to laugh so I don't cry). We have abused them and the only ones who have had to suffer for this lack of compassion are the sick themselves.

When it comes to healing, the legalistic mindsets we were called out of, kick in full force and we are hurting sick people. We totally lack the compassion and love that Jesus showed.

Many of the methods for "standing" are a way to disqualify the sick in the praying person's eyes. I'm not sure of the motives behind it. These teachings actually discourage the sick to keep getting prayer when that's the VERY thing that God called the sick to do in His Word!

Honestly though I feel very sorry for many of these people because if sickness ever hits them or someone very close to them, they are going to be in for a rude awakening when they go through all of their "methods" and nothing happens...

What it Really Means to "Stand" for Healing

---

I just want to make it clear, that I do not repeat scriptures in my home. I read the Bible, but not out of a sense of works or obligation. I do it out of wanting to know God. I pray and talk to God all throughout my day. There is never a shut off switch. Even though I try to be hopeful, I know it's not a positive attitude that will get me healed. I don't declare that "I'm healed already." I don't do things that cause me to hurt myself in order to "trick my mind" into thinking I'm healed.

My husband and I get prayer any time it is feasible. Recently we have been getting prayer from some local people, but we have also taken trips. One time we had $50 to our name and we spent it on gas to get to a healing meeting...haha Another time we drove 6 hours to a healing meeting. We have been to several other meetings that were long distance and I think it's something to keep in mind. There are many healing testimonies out there where Holy Spirit sent a person on a trip to get healed. These two incredible healings stand out in my mind and I highly recommend watching the clips. This man had Parkinsons and this man was a quadriplegic.

We were never called to do this on our own. Christianity is not a solo journey. The entire basis of the Gospel message is that you can't be saved nor make it to heaven on your own merits or works. We ALL need Jesus to forgive us of our sins and to reconcile us back to God. Interestingly with healing we actually go completely against the Gospel and we tell the sick to “get it on their own” and we tell them that their thoughts play a large role in their health. Something does not add up here.

Guard yourself against these false teachings which have you locked up in your own mind or are telling you to sit in your house repeating scriptures all day to get healed. This is not the Gospel! Lots of healing ministries cause the sick to become so inner focused, you actually begin to forget that God is pleased with you. This happened to me!

When you are told to look at your doubts, unbelief, thoughts and roots of sickness, it puts you in such a negative horrible place, the devil will come to devour you. Rejoice that this is not the way the Lord wants us to come to him for healing. Praise God for he is Good!...He is the one whose faith is everlasting. He is faithful when we are not. He is gracious when we stumble. Jesus is THE healer. Not our minds.

If you are one of those people who have been hurt and have stopped getting prayer, then just make the decision today to starting getting prayer again. God loves you so much and he is not looking for ways to disqualify you from any of the promises he made to us. Make the decision to step out and find a church in your area that believes in healing and start trusting God again for your healing.

Blessings to everyone!